Photo Shoot

Last night, Brian and I took the boys up to the golf course for a photo shoot.  It has been a while since we have done a photo shoot and the boys had fun -- in fact, they asked if we could take a few more pictures (Brian thought that the 148 pictures I took were enough)!

We hope that these pictures put a BIG smile on your face!

Benjamin's Pre-K Graduation 2012

As I looked at the calendar yesterday, I realized that Benjamin starts Kindergarten in 4 weeks!!!!  I thought it would be best to get a post about his Pre-K graduation posted a little before I post first day of school pictures!

Graduation was a big deal - we had family meet us at Chili's for dinner before the ceremony.

I love seeing a real smile on Benjamin's face!

I was a little tearful at the ceremony -- I can't imagine what it will be like in a mere 13 years for high school graduation.....

We were so glad to have all the family here to celebrate and know that Gebee and Mimi were in heaven watching and smiling! 

Working Out in the Field

A few weeks ago we went to a farm and picked blueberries and blackberries.  I think that for every two that we put in the bucket, the boys ate one.  They left with full bellies and we left with half the berries we picked!

Brian had to sample a few of the berries.

Now we need a trip to the dentist -- can you see their "teeth"?

Baseball Playoffs

We came back from the beach just in time for baseball playoffs.  At this age group, we just played one game for the playoffs.  The boys were sad for the season to end!!

Benjamin has his game face on:

We are so proud of the boys -- by the end of the season, both of them were hitting from the coach pitching.  Here is Benjamin up to bat.

Batter up Ethan!

Ethan spent an inning catching and had lots of fun.

After the game, everyone got a trophy.  

They boys will play ball in the fall and are already counting the days!

Beach Trip #1 Summer 2012

Last month we went to the Gulf Coast for the week.  This was our last time to be able to go while most children are still in school.  (Though we are excited about Benjamin starting Kindergarten in the fall, our vacation plans will now revolve around a school calendar.)

It was warm and sunny at the beach and not very crowded -- just how we like it!

The boys discovered wave jumping:

Brian took our "crab-hunting" net with us.  And, no, they did not catch any crabs.  But it sure was fun looking for crabs!

We had a wonderful time and are so fortunate to be able to go back to the beach in July.  You will notice that the boys have floaties on in a few of the pictures - we hope that those will be the last pictures of the boys in floaties.  We started swim lessons yesterday and are excited to think that by the time we go back to the beach in July, we will have swimmers traveling to the beach with us!

Driver's Ed.

Yep.  Believe it or not -- it is time to start talking about driver's education.  We went to the mountains about a month ago (yes, that is how far behind I am on the blog) to celebrate Uncle Randy's birthday.  On the ride to the mountains, Brian and I spent a good bit of time talking with the boys about how this was Uncle Randy's birthday and they may not get to ride on all the "machines" he has.  As we pulled into the driveway the discussions we had went out the window.

During the adults talking, the boys amused themselves with picking out the most perfect rocks for our collection.

Yep, they found a perfect one!

Uncle Randy was inspecting the gator before the rides began.  I know it is difficult to see, but note that the one behind the wheel is 5 years old!

A close up view:

Now Ethan will try his hand at this driving thing....

I would be remiss if I left out the picture of Ethan behind the wheel (ready to take off any second) and Benjamin standing up in the bed of the truck.  The only thing missing from this picture is the sound of my yelling, from across the yard "Beeeeennnjamin, sit down!!!"

Ethan was trying to tell us he was going to parallel park the gator "right over there."  (Just kidding on that one!)  But, one thing is for sure, Matt may be the one to teach the boys to drive!

Thanks for another memorable visit!!

Road Trip

As is routine lately, I am behind on the blog.  But the boys in my life would tell you that we have been having sooo much fun lately!  A while back, we took a 2 hour road trip (yeah, I know, we live on the edge) to Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina.  There is a great Children's Museum and a just the right size zoo in Greenville that we thought would be fun for the boys.  We were surprised by the very cool park next to the zoo.  

My three monkeys in the zoo:

Lunch on the river in Greenville:

Another cool surprise was the park along the river:

And, the buddies really had fun at the Children's Museum.

Then, we rode off into the Sunset on a bear...

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, all the boys in my life have had fun recently.  Brian and I were able to get away for a long weekend to Vegas.  It was nice to get away (thanks Papaw for watching the boys) but I was glad to get back.  And, you will notice - there are no pictures from Vegas -- remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!